Way Down East
About Way Down East
Anna Moore goes from the country to Boston. Lennox Sanderson tricks her into a sham marriage and leaves her with a child. The baby dies. She takes work on Squire Bartlett's farm. His son David loves her. When the squire learns her history he drives her out into a storm. She collapses on a river ice floe. David reaches her before the floe goes over the falls.
Cast & crew
More about Way Down East
D. W. Griffith directed and produced it, from Lottie Blair Parker's play, with a script by Anthony Paul Kelly. Billy Bitzer and Hendrik Sartov photographed it. James Smith edited it. Louis Silvers wrote the music. United Artists released it. Wikidata lists a first date of August 26, 1920, and 145 minutes. Lillian Gish plays Anna. Richard Barthelmess plays David. Lowell Sherman plays Sanderson. Burr McIntosh plays the squire. A copy is on the Internet Archive as WayDownEast_201312.
Themes
Making
Griffith shot Gish on the river ice for the last sequence, with Bitzer and Sartov.
Look
Billy Bitzer and Hendrik Sartov shot the farm and the ice going toward the falls.
Music
Louis Silvers wrote the music.
Preservation
A copy is on the Internet Archive.
Notes
- Two silent versions came before this one. A 1935 sound version stars Henry Fonda.
- Kate Bruce, Creighton Hale, and Emily Fitzroy are billed.
- The rescue is on moving river ice, not a studio tank standing in for the whole sequence.
- Other listed dates are April 4, 1921, September 5, 1921, and April 3, 1922.
Scenes
- Sanderson abandons Anna after the false marriage.
- David pulls her off the ice before the falls.
Influenced by
- Lottie Blair Parker's play Way Down East
Also available
- Internet Archive (WayDownEast_201312)
